Month: January 2023

Over the weekend, Cade Hudson, an agent whose clients include Britney Spears, had a big birthday bash. As TMZ notes, in attendance for the 35th birthday party were stars like Demi Lovato, Robert Pattinson, James Marsden, Spears, and Paris Hilton, among many others. Hilton took some photos of the festivities and later shared them on Instagram as a birthday tribute for Hudson.

One photo in particular stood out, though: A shot of Hilton, Spears, and Hudson. That image was quickly singled out by Spears fans, who think something is amiss.

One commenter wrote, “Not Paris budding up with one of Britney conservatorship abusers.. Shows where you’re true feelings are Paris. And it’s definitely not with your best friend Britney Spears… We know these are not real pictures Paris. You’re not fooling anybody.. KARMA’S ON ITS WAY PARIS.” Another commented, “It’s really strange how half the necklace chains are missing in the photo with Britney. And what’s wrong with her fingers?” Somebody else wrote, “Is that an AI Britney?? Look at her fingers!!! WTF Paris? You’re becoming more and more shady to me and I used to love you dude. How dare you participate in whatever is going on with Brit? This won’t end well for you!”

Eventually, Hilton addressed some of these responses, writing in a January 7 comment, “To all of those asking. Some of these photos were taken on an iPhone so they ended up being blurry. So they used this app called Remini to make it look unblurry and sometimes the Ai distorts images. Didn’t want to even dignify this with a response. But some of these conspiracy theories are absolutely ridiculous [facepalm emoji].”

Hilton, meanwhile, recently dropped a new version of her 2006 single “Stars Are Blind.”

Since mid-2008, 03 Greedo (real name Jason Jamal Jackson) has been in prison for firearm and drug offenses, but that hasn’t stopped him from releasing new music. In fact, he’s dropped a handful of albums and other projects since then. Now, he has unveiled yet another one: Free 03, a new mixtape produced by Mike Free, is out now.

The announcement was made on Greedo’s Instagram on January 7 and the project features BlueBucksClan, OhGeesy, KenTheMan, and the late Drakeo The Ruler. Greedo previously announced the project last August.

The bigger news here, though, is that Greedo is set to be released from prison in a matter of days. Last night (January 8), Jeff Weiss reported, “Out of respect for Greedo’s right to break the news however he wants to break it, I can’t officially confirm anything. But this Texas parole info is accurate. 03 should be coming home at some point this week. A 5-year nightmare finally coming to an end.”

This information is available on the Texas Department Of Criminal Justice website, of which Weiss shared a screenshot and which shows a scheduled release date on parole of January 12.

Greedo previously mourned Free 03 collaborator Drakeo’s death, writing, “I wanted to wait until I felt like a lot of the clout posts died down because this one really crushed me. I lost a lot of homies, family, and industry friends while I’ve been locked up but to lose my evil twin f*cked me up. I wake up every day wishing I made parole so I could convince you to move out of LA with me and focus on the music. To lose your n****s you made your first millions with before even coming home to enjoy it is mind-blowing. Coming home to Shoreline broken up and no Ketchy or Drakeo — we still have so many hot songs we haven’t shown the world.”

Stream Free 03 below.

For the second offseason in a row, the Houston Texans are headed into the offseason looking for someone to replace a one-and-done head coach. According to Ian Rapoport and Mike Garofolo of NFL Network, Houston has decided to part ways with Lovie Smith after a 3-13-1 campaign that saw them register the worst record in the AFC.

Texans general manager Nick Caserio confirmed the report via a statement released on the team’s official Twitter account.

Smith got the job last offseason after the team decided to move on from David Culley. Like Smith, Culley got one year at the helm of the Texans before deciding to go with someone else. While Culley was a first-time head coach, Smith, who worked as Culley’s associate head coach and defensive coordinator, signed a 4-year contract with the Texans and brought plenty of head coaching experience at both the NFL and collegiate levels.

Earlier in the day, Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported that the Texans could have eyes on a pair of defensive coordinators if they decide to move on from Smith: Eagles DC Jonathan Gannon and 49ers DC DeMeco Ryans, the latter of whom was an All-Pro linebacker in Houston.

The Texans will head into this offseason with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. They were slated to pick No. 1 until the team pulled off a shocking, last-minute win against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

The Packers and Lions met on Sunday Night Football with Detroit’s season already over thanks to the Seahawks’ comeback win over the Rams, but Green Bay could punch its ticket to the postseason with a win at home.

The two teams were locked in a defensive struggle for the first half, with some touchdowns finally starting to get put on the board in the second half of what became a back-and-forth affair, as the Lions still had plenty of motivation to end the year with a winning record (and knock a hated rival out of the playoffs in the process). Given the stakes, it was not a game for dumb penalties, but Quay Walker managed to produce one of the dumbest of the season in the fourth quarter and Detroit driving into the red zone.

After D’Andre Swift got tackled (and hit with a forearm to the head that went uncalled), he stayed down and got attention from the Detroit training staff. As one of the trainers arrived on the scene, Walker was standing over Swift still and he tried to push his way past Walker to check on him, with Walker deciding that was unacceptable and giving him a two-handed shove to the back.

That led to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and, after a brief delay where one assumes New York called down, an ejection for Walker, who is a key piece of the Packers defense. As Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth noted on the call, pushing a trainer would always be frowned upon but to do this on this week of all weeks, where the NFL world was lauding the work of Buffalo’s training staff in helping save Damar Hamlin’s life, was an especially bad look.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur was screaming at Walker to “be smart” after the flag and then after Walker was announced as ejected from the game, he was distraught over his extremely poor decision as he went into the tunnel to the locker room. The Lions would pay off the drive with a go-ahead touchdown, and if the Packers go on to lose and miss the postseason, Walker will have to sit with this all offseason.

The Brooklyn Nets have been the hottest team in the NBA for the last month, winning 18 of their last 20 games, including a 102-101 win over the Heat in Miami on Sunday night.

Leading the way has been Kevin Durant, who has returned to full blown MVP form, averaging 30.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game on a 60.9 effective field goal percentage — which is absurd considering the majority of his damage coming from the midrange. Durant has been nothing short of sensational for the Nets, which is why Sunday’s win was bittersweet as the likely All-Star captain in the East left the game and did not return with a right knee injury after Jimmy Butler got blocked on a drive and fell backwards into Durant’s leg.

After the game, Nets coach Jacque Vaughn told reporters Durant would likely have an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of the injury and a timetable for his return.

The MRI being tomorrow comes as little surprise, but the Nets organization and their fans will be holding their breath until the results come back. Brooklyn’s recent run has gotten them all the way to second in the East at 27-13, one game back of the Boston Celtics. That’s a remarkable turnaround from the early season woes amid plenty of off court drama, but under Vaughn’s guidance, they have settled into a tremendous rhythm and started to look like the contenders they’ve always supposed to have been.

Hopefully the injury is not particularly severe, but the most important thing for Brooklyn is Durant getting healthy for the playoffs, so one would expect them to be fairly cautious with their star whatever the injury turns out to be. Their recent hot streak affords them a cushion to be more cautious with Durant as well, although they’ll now shift more responsibility to Kyrie Irving as well as likely having to alter their rotation to bring more offensive-minded players into a larger role to ease the burden.

From a league-wide perspective, it’s brutal to see another star go down in the midst of an MVP caliber campaign, and hopefully he won’t miss significant time. It does put into question whether Durant will be able to play in the All-Star Game, or if like a year ago he’ll be a captain but have to sit out.

Hailey Bieber has been trending a lot these days, but not for her famous husband or modeling. It was for her response to the discourse surrounding nepotism in the media and entertainment industry.

In December, Vulture released an article titled “Year of the Nepo Baby,” which sparked a major debate about “nepo babies” that have become famous, including Euphoria‘s Maude Apatow (who is the daughter of Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann), Maya Hawke of Stranger Things, ( the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman), and more. The 26-year-old model, who is the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin, offered her own cheeky response to the online discourse with an interesting fashion statement.

Bieber was seen around town in LA, wearing a plain white tee with the lego “Nepo Baby” on it. Some people loved it, like actress Gweneth Paltrow. In the comment section of InStyle’s official Instagram that noted Bieber’s look, Paltrow implied that she’d even consider wearing one herself.

“I might need a few of these,” the star commented.

UK singer-songwriter Charli XCX also joined in, writing, ” I respect the nepo baby t-shirt attempt.” The comments were flooded with hilarious responses to the singer’s tweet, wondering if it was an attempt to shade the model.

“Attempt,” one person wrote with a laughing meme.

“[I’m] hooting n’ hollering at Charli being as messy as us,” another wrote, alongside a Wendy Williams meme.

Others compared Hailey’s shirt with an old Charli XCX SSENSE shirt that read, “They don’t build statues of critics.”

“Some people just don’t have that IT factor, y’know?” another person tweeted.

It’s hard to believe in 2023 but Mel Gibson used to be one of the biggest movie stars in the world. He screwed that up but good, and despite numerous comeback attempts — he was even nominated for a Best Director Oscar only seven years ago — he’s more or less consigned to the margins of an industry over which he once ruled. The guy can’t even get a gig as Grand Marshal of a parade — or he did, but the inevitable backlash was such that he had to step down.

As per 4WWL out of New Orleans, the controversial actor and filmmaker was set to lord over the Krewe of Endymion parade at this year’s Mardi Gars. It’s always been one of the more mainstream of the celebration’s parades, attracting big, big names; the 2019 iteration nabbed Flo-Rida and Lionel Richie. Why they chose an infamous figure whose past includes anti-Semitic and racist statements is anyone’s guess. But less than 24 hours after announcing Mad Mel would be Grand Marshal he was out.

In a statement, Krewe of Endymion organizers said they received “significant feedback” to the news, which included “threats that cause us great concern.”

The nature of the threats were not made public, but some wondered if it wouldn’t have just been people pelting the Oscar-winner with whatever’s on hand for hours.

Despite his career problems, Gibson is allegedly busy. It’s been reported that he’s mere “months” from shooting his belated sequel to one of his biggest money-makers, The Passion of the Christ, which became one of the biggest hits of 2004. He’s also allegedly directing a fifth Lethal Weapon, according to himself.

(Via 4WWL)

It looks like model Emily Ratajkowski and former TV show host Ellen DeGeneres might have some “Bad Blood” over Taylor Swift. In a resurfaced clip on TikTok, DeGeneres can be seen hammering the Nashville singer, who looked visibly uncomfortable, about her dating life during a 2012 appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

Throughout the cringey clip, Swift sits across from DeGeneres, asking the singer to choose from an array of images of famous men that she might have been involved with, like Taylor Lautner, Justin Bieber, Joe Jonas, and Justin Timberlake.

“This is so f*ked up,” the supermodel wrote.

Emily Ratajkowski slams Ellen DeGeneres for ‘fucked up’ Taylor Swift interview. https://t.co/4Sq4hEix3C

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) January 8, 2023

“She’s literally begging her to stop,” Ratajkowski continued.

In spite of Swift’s pleas to DeGeneres to stop, the daytime talk show host asked Swift to “ring a bell” every time she came across a picture of one of the men she dated. The singer said she wanted to keep “the one shred of dignity that I have.”

“I don’t want to [do it]. They’ll send me angry emails, and I don’t want to get them,” Swift stated.

It’s unclear whether the bit was planned, but Swift didn’t seem too happy with it either way.

The Midnights singer recently opened up about being reduced to the men she dated in the early days of her career, such as with Apple Beats’ Zane Lowe. Despite Swift not mentioning DeGeneres by name at the time, many Swifties argued that she was referencing the uncomfortable 2012 interview.

Week 18 had a lot of implications all over the world of football, but in Las Vegas there were three very interested observers in this weekend’s action as the Circa Survivor Contest — with a $6.1 million prize — had three contestants left. All three picked different teams to win, with one on the Jaguars, who pulled out a miracle on Saturday to lock that bettor into at least a $2 million share, another on the Seahawks, who faced the Rams needing a win to keep playoff hopes alive in Seattle in the afternoon window, and one brave soul who backed Sam Ehlinger and the Colts against the Texans.

If you would like to see the pain of losing out on at least a $2 million (possibly $3 million, if Seattle had lost) payday on a 4th-and-20 heave, here it is.

That man, named Mike Barth, explained his decision to take the Colts over the Jaguars (who won Saturday) and Vikings (who rolled the Bears on Sunday) who were also available to him.

If there were ever an instance of overthinking it, this might be it. Having Jacksonville wouldn’t have been fun, so I don’t blame him on that point, but considering the Bears were going to start Nathan Peterman, taking the Vikings, even if they rest everyone in the second half, would’ve been far more palatable to the Colts if it were my money. In any case, Indianapolis was still in control late and it required two miracles from the Texans, who should’ve been trying to lose so they’d get the top pick, to have a chance to win the game on their final drive, with a 4th-and-20 touchdown going through the hands of a Colts defender for a Houston touchdown and then Davis Mills successfully converted a two-point conversion.

He handled this far better than I would’ve, as I’d have been losing my mind and possibly throwing things. Hopefully he had a healthy hedge on the Texans moneyline that eased the pain, but this is about as brutal as it gets with that much on the line. That is, in fact, a bad beat, Scott Van Pelt.

While much of the NFL world was focused on the battles for playoff positions and seeding in Week 18, those in Houston and Chicago were focused on the battle for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Houston’s path was simple, as a loss would lock up the worst record in the league and give them the first overall selection and, presumably, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. Chicago needed a loss against Minnesota and a Houston win over Indianapolis, which was starting Sam Ehlinger and is coached by Jeff Saturday, thus very much in play for the top pick. The Bears got the first part of that equation done in style, as Nathan Peterman and Tim Boyle combined to put up 13 points in a 29-13 loss that was never in doubt, falling to 3-14 on the year.

In Indy, we were treated to a wild game between two teams with a combined six wins, as the Texans jumped in front by double digits early, saw Ehlinger lead a comeback to go up 31-24, and then had Davis Mills complete two ridiculous fourth down passes on Houston’s final drive. The first was a 4th and 12 dart down the sideline to keep their chances at a win alive, and the second was a 4th and 20 heave to the end zone that, somehow, the Colts whiffed on.

The Colts apparently didn’t watch enough NFL Primetime back in the day, because Tom Jackson always told us to “KNOCK IT DOWN!” Then, the Texans went for two because who wants overtime, and Mills again found a receiver in the end zone to put Houston up 32-31.

Ehlinger could only get the Colts to just shy of midfield before time ran out on their effort at a game-winning drive, locking up the No. 1 pick for the Bears and dropping Houston, at 3-13-1, to the second overall pick. That means the Bears figure to be open for business, shopping the top pick to quarterback starved teams (including, possibly, the Texans), as they know Justin Fields is their guy and will be looking to add multiple picks so they can bolster their roster and address a number of needs.